diff --git a/scripts/tests/test-qmd-search.mjs b/scripts/tests/test-qmd-search.mjs
index 03d234a..122393e 100644
--- a/scripts/tests/test-qmd-search.mjs
+++ b/scripts/tests/test-qmd-search.mjs
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 import { test } from 'node:test';
 import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
 import { EventEmitter } from 'node:events';
-import { runSearch, startDaemon, toCliResults } from '../../shared/qmd/qmd-search.mjs';
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync, existsSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { callDaemon, runSearch, startDaemon, toCliResults } from '../../shared/qmd/qmd-search.mjs';
 import { collectionName } from '../../shared/qmd/qmd-lib.mjs';
 
 const hit = [{ path: 'src/a.ts', line: 3, score: 0.9, snippet: 's' }];
@@ -76,3 +79,33 @@ test('startDaemon rejects when the child cannot be spawned', async () => {
     return child;
   } }), /spawn failed/);
 });
+
+function tempDaemonFile(t, value) {
+  const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'qmd-search-'));
+  t.after(() => rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true }));
+  const file = join(dir, 'daemon.json');
+  if (value) writeFileSync(file, JSON.stringify(value));
+  return file;
+}
+
+test('startDaemon resolves when its child loses the start race to a running daemon', async (t) => {
+  const file = tempDaemonFile(t, { port: 4000, token: 'other', pid: 999 });
+  await startDaemon({ file, spawnChild: () => {
+    const child = new EventEmitter(); child.unref = () => {}; child.pid = 1;
+    setImmediate(() => child.emit('exit', 0));
+    return child;
+  } });
+});
+
+test('a 403 means a stale token: daemon.json is deleted and one new daemon is started', async (t) => {
+  const file = tempDaemonFile(t, { port: 4000, token: 'stale', pid: 999 });
+  const fetchImpl = async (url, options) => (options.headers['x-qmd-token'] === 'fresh'
+    ? { ok: true, status: 200, json: async () => ({ results: hit }) } : { ok: false, status: 403 });
+  let started = 0;
+  const results = await runSearch({ root: '/r', query: 'q', topK: 5,
+    daemon: (path, body) => callDaemon(path, body, { file, fetchImpl }),
+    startDaemon: async () => { started += 1; assert.equal(existsSync(file), false); writeFileSync(file, JSON.stringify({ port: 4001, token: 'fresh', pid: 998 })); },
+    cli: async () => assert.fail('must not fall back') });
+  assert.deepEqual(results, hit);
+  assert.equal(started, 1);
+});
diff --git a/shared/qmd/qmd-search.mjs b/shared/qmd/qmd-search.mjs
index 0c08edf..e48ec17 100644
--- a/shared/qmd/qmd-search.mjs
+++ b/shared/qmd/qmd-search.mjs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 // shared/qmd/qmd-search.mjs — search the current repository through the QMD daemon, with a CLI fallback.
 import { execFileSync, spawn } from 'node:child_process';
+import { rmSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { dirname, join, resolve } from 'node:path';
 import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from 'node:url';
 import { parseArgs } from 'node:util';
@@ -18,12 +19,12 @@ export function toCliResults(items, collection) {
 
 const notRunning = (message, cause) => Object.assign(new Error(message, { cause }), { notRunning: true });
 
-async function callDaemon(path, body) {
-  const info = readJson(daemonFile(), null);
+export async function callDaemon(path, body, { file = daemonFile(), fetchImpl = fetch } = {}) {
+  const info = readJson(file, null);
   if (!info?.port || !info?.token) throw notRunning('daemon not running');
   let response;
   try {
-    response = await fetch(`http://127.0.0.1:${info.port}${path}`, {
+    response = await fetchImpl(`http://127.0.0.1:${info.port}${path}`, {
       method: 'POST', headers: { 'x-qmd-token': info.token, 'content-type': 'application/json' },
       body: JSON.stringify(body), signal: AbortSignal.timeout(600_000) });
   } catch (error) {
@@ -31,23 +32,32 @@ async function callDaemon(path, body) {
     if (error instanceof TypeError) throw notRunning('daemon not reachable', error);
     throw error;
   }
+  if (response.status === 403) {
+    // Whatever listens there does not know this token, so daemon.json is stale.
+    rmSync(file, { force: true });
+    throw notRunning('daemon rejected the token');
+  }
   if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`daemon answered ${response.status}`);
   return response.json();
 }
 
-export async function startDaemon({ spawnChild = spawn } = {}) {
+export async function startDaemon({ spawnChild = spawn, file = daemonFile() } = {}) {
   const device = readJson(setupStatePath(), {}).device || 'cpu';
   const child = spawnChild(process.execPath, [join(here, 'qmd-daemon.mjs')], { detached: true, stdio: 'ignore', windowsHide: true, env: deviceEnv(device) });
   let failure = null;
+  let lostRace = false; // exit code 0: another launch holds the start lock or a daemon already runs
   child.once('error', (error) => { failure = error; });
-  child.once('exit', (code) => { failure ||= new Error(`daemon exited with code ${code}`); });
+  child.once('exit', (code) => {
+    if (code === 0) lostRace = true;
+    else failure ||= new Error(`daemon exited with code ${code}`);
+  });
   child.unref();
   const deadline = Date.now() + 120_000;
   while (Date.now() < deadline) {
     await new Promise((done) => setTimeout(done, 500));
     if (failure) throw failure;
-    const info = readJson(daemonFile(), null);
-    if (info?.port && info?.token && info.pid === child.pid) return;
+    const info = readJson(file, null);
+    if (info?.port && info?.token && (lostRace || info.pid === child.pid)) return;
   }
   throw new Error('daemon did not start within 120 s');
 }